Former Gop 15th District Hopefuls Unite For Toomey * Now That The Primary's Over, Their Goal Is To Keep Afflerbach From Getting

June 06, 1998|by DENNIS ZEHNER, The Morning Call

Four former congressional hopefuls and GOP nominee Pat Toomey on Friday showed what a difference 17 days can make.

Fresh off an acrimonious primary election for the 15th District, Toomey, state Sen. Joe Uliana, Bob Kilbanks, Joe Pascuzzo and Nick Sabatine stood uncomfortably at a news conference at the Northampton County Republican Committee headquarters in Bethlehem, looking nothing like five of the six gentlemen who were at each other's throats until May 19.

FOR THE RECORD - (Published Sunday, June 07, 1998) A story in Saturday's Morning Call about the 15th District congressional race incorrectly described Republican Bob Kilbanks' view on the abortion issue. Kilbanks' stance is anti-abortion.

They stood in support of Toomey, despite their differences and because they share a common opponent: state Sen. Roy C. Afflerbach, the Democratic nominee.

"Roy Afflerbach is completely out of touch with what the people in the 15th District want," Pascuzzo said. "He is extremely liberal."

Uliana, painted as the "career politician" and the outsider in the heated primary who chastised Toomey and the other candidates for their support of a flat tax, said Toomey is a better choice than Afflerbach, whom Uliana also called a "classical tax-and-spend liberal Democrat."

Afflerbach responded by issuing a statement accusing the Republicans of being dishonest, pointing out Uliana's criticism of Toomey's flat tax idea and Kilbanks' pro-choice stand.

"After a year of disagreeing with Pat Toomey, Joe Uliana and Bob Kilbanks and the rest of the GOP have to play politics and endorse Pat Toomey," the statement said. "Wow, what a surprise."

The GOP primary candidates, with the exception of Larry Grello, who did not attend the news conference, pledged to help Toomey in the general election. Pascuzzo vowed to knock on doors on behalf of the Republican Committee, and Uliana promised to send a campaign letter on behalf of Toomey.

The November winner in the 15th District will take the place of Democrat Paul McHale, who decided not to seek another term. McHale has been criticized for being beholden to President Clinton.

"The eyes of this country are going to be on this race because this will be one of the handful of races in this country which the control of Congress will be determined," Uliana said. "Because of that it is vitally important for our national movement, our national party, to support our nominee."

Uliana said while he does not agree on the flat tax idea, he does agree with Toomey wanting to lower taxes and other issues such as school choice and welfare reform.

"We can disagree on how we want to cut taxes, but we both want to cut taxes," Uliana said. "But in the end we want to cut taxes in general."

Uliana said concentration on the candidates' differences are part and parcel of the primary election process.

"I think that when you look at a campaign when there are small differences that people fight over, that belies the tremendous amount of agreement which all the candidates have," Uliana said. "Everyone ran a spirited campaign and that's good for democracy."

The other former candidates at the gathering also expressed their support of Toomey's platform, which includes term limits and smaller government.

"As the election unfolded, particularly for me," Sabatine said, "it became readily apparent that Pat and I shared a lot of ideals and ideas in this election,. perhaps more than any of the other candidates."

Toomey thanked his fellow Republicans and repeated the party line of unity.

"I think we leave this meeting feeling confident that we have a unifed party, a united party," Toomey said. "It is united because the common goals we share are far greater and far more important than the small differences that we had in the spirited primary."